425 million adults suffer from diabetes worldwide. Insulin producers not only require sophisticated filling technology but also advanced inspection systems to protect both product and patients.

Over one million children and adolescents currently live with type 1 diabetes. These figures are increasing every day. But thanks to new, targeted therapies and application technologies for insulin administration, people who are suffering from diabetes today have the same life expectancy chance as their peers.

Production of insulin cartridges

In the treatment of diabetes, pen systems that can be equipped with insulin cartridges and injection needles have long surpassed all other injection systems, mainly due to their ease of use and relatively inexpensive production. The insulin pens are loaded with cartridges.

The process flow for manufacturing an insulin cartridge includes many steps: washing, siliconizing, sterilizing, filling and closing, then inspection, tray loading, pen assembly and cartoning. The cartridge is exposed to different temperatures, pressures, and movements during these processes. The higher the speed, the more the containers, stoppers and caps are subject to physical stress. Foreign particles in the product and container defects are not acceptable. Hence, insulin producers not only require sophisticated filling technology but also advanced inspection systems to protect both product and patients.

Inspection of cartridges

For insulin applications, several distinct locations of the cartridge need to be carefully examined. The cartridge neck is especially prone to cracks, which are not easy to detect. In addition, bottom cracks are critical because the lower section of the cartridge (plunger side) is in direct contact with the pen later. During pen application, this might lead to glass breakage.

Bosch offers different inspection technologies to suit product requirements best. For particle inspection, SD (Static Division) technology is still the preferred choice by many (learn more about this patented technology by following this link). Nevertheless, there are several use-cases where camera systems can be an alternative or an add-on feature to support automated vision systems; delivering high quality particle inspection results.

For the detection of cosmetic container defects, automated camera systems using the latest CCD (charge coupled device) and CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) sensor technologies in combination with specially designed optics and LED lighting are used on our inspection platforms.

Are you interested in our various inspection technologies? Get an insight by watching the following videos of our automatic inspection machines: